Everyone who works at Ballymaloe Cookery School is passionate about food. This enthusiasm makes Ballymaloe an exciting place to learn because students are immersed in a world that lives, breathes - and eats - food. From learning complicated cooking techniques to choosing the best ingredients, students pick up hundreds of invaluable tips and secrets. Whether you attend an afternoon demonstration or complete the Ballymaloe 12 Week Certificate Course, we guarantee it will be time very well spent.

Darina Allen may be Ireland’s most famous chef – known to tens of millions of people all over the world because of her television programmes and books – but, at heart, she is a born teacher. She lectures at Ballymaloe most days during term time, and even if she isn’t teaching, she is to be found working somewhere in the school or gardens.

The better the ingredients, the better the food. Ballymaloe is the only cookery school in the world located in the middle of a 100 acre organic farm. The vegetables, fruit and herbs that our students use come straight from our gardens and greenhouses. We also have our own cattle - complete with a working micro dairy - along with pigs and chickens on site. What we can’t grow ourselves, we source locally e.g. most of our fish comes directly from the boats in nearby Ballycotton Harbour. We know not everyone is lucky enough to have such abundant resources on their doorstep so we teach our students how to identify the best possible ingredients wherever they live and work.

Ballymaloe has a reputation for offering a warm welcome. The courses are intensive, but the atmosphere is always friendly and helpful. With a ratio of one teacher for every six students, a high degree of individual attention and support is given to every student.

Central to everything we do is our 12 Week Certificate Course, which is designed to offer students an intensive immersion in the art of cooking. We also add fresh and dynamic courses to our curriculum regularly, offering an extensive range of short courses. Check out our calendar and sign up for a half day demonstration of Ballymaloe favourites, a two-and-a-half-day class on cooking for friends and family, or a more comprehensive five week summer cookery course.

Set in the heart of lush, rolling East Cork countryside, just half a mile from the sea, the school is located in a converted apple barn. It contains four fully-appointed teaching kitchens, two demonstration kitchens and two beautiful dining rooms. It is a bright, cheerful, sunny space overlooking the fruit garden. Accommodation is available in beautifully restored buildings, located in and around the old farm courtyard, with students having full access to the farm and gardens. For those who wish to explore, we are less than two miles from Myrtle Allen's world famous Ballymaloe House, 20 minutes’ drive from the market town of Midleton and only 45 minutes from Cork city.

We have a strong work ethos at Ballymaloe. Our typical day tends to run long because we believe it is important to fit in as much as possible. There are lots of extra opportunities to make butter or cheese, milk a cow, bake bread, grow your own lettuce, or learn how to ferment. Lunch is a special time to relax, with teachers and students sitting down in the dining rooms to enjoy a three course meal which the students have prepared that morning.

Darina Allen and Rory O'Connell founded Ballymaloe Cookery school in 1983. With years of experience in teaching and running classes, we know how to ensure that students receive the greatest possible benefit from their time with us. Every detail is looked after, from ensuring that you have detailed course notes to meeting specific dietary needs, helping with equipment requirements and providing accommodation.

We are very conscious about providing value for money to our students. We price our courses according to who is lecturing, the number of staff required, the cost of the ingredients and the length of the programme. Given the high ratio of teachers to students and the superior quality of our ingredients, our students are invariably satisfied that the courses they undertake with us have been a good investment.

For those wishing to pursue a career as a professional chef, we believe there is no better place than Ballymaloe Cookery School to start on that journey. In the international food industry, there is a strong demand for Ballymaloe 12 Week Certificate Course graduates. With contacts all around the world, we are delighted to make the necessary introductions for our graduates, and endeavour wherever possible to assist them with finding a suitable position.